Author Notes - A big thing I wanted to do with this story was depict Lynn's family as being loving and accepting, aside from any initial problems. This is partially because it's, you know, IN CHARACTER for the Louds. Mostly, however, it's because I want to be different. During my times observing (public) transgender spaces, I've seen a growing desire to tell a trans story without the family being awful and unaccepting.

While many trans people do suffer from awful families, I totally understand why more people want to see a happier story. It offers a more optimistic view on the world, telling and showing trans people that they will be accepted by someone out there. And those who already have accepting families get to see that love reflected. Being transgender does come with many tribulations, with many of them caused by people being unaccepting. But acting like there's nothing BUT these tribulations is wrong too.

CHAPTER THREE - A REALISATION

'I HATE IT! WHY DO I HAVE TO BE A BOY?!'

It had been an awful day for Lynn Jr. Now, he couldn't even take a wizz without being reminded of how horrible his body was. That thing between his legs was rubbing salt in the wound. Today, Leni found him punching the bathroom mirror when he saw his reflection once again. It was fortunate he was too young to do any real damage to it.

When he tried to play with a small group of girls his age, they immediately reacted in fear and disgust. Even though it was probably exaggerated, due to their laughter afterwards, it only reminded Lynn of how different he was from what he longed to be. By the end of this little 'playdate' in the park, he had been reduced to a crying mess once again.

Now, he lay on his bed with his knees tucked up to his chest. All he could do was weep, unleashing all the emotion he had built up over that day. The thought only made him angry; he was Lynn Jr! He knew he should not have been acting like this. Lynn Jr was supposed to be a tough and energetic menace, not a wimpy pile of tears. He hated this emotional vulnerability; other than his father, boys weren't supposed to cry.

'Why was I made like this…?'

The images of his reflection haunted him whenever he closed his eyes. Everyone else seemed to see themselves whenever they looked in the mirror. In fact, Leni could often be heard saying 'Hi Leni!' to her own reflection. But when Lynn looked in the mirror, he saw no one but a stranger. Some short-haired boy who couldn't possibly be mistaken for a girl.

'I don't want to be a boy anymore…'

He glanced out the window. The sun was just about setting, meaning it would be time for dinner soon. There was no way he'd be able to leave his room to eat, however. His sisters would no doubt call him their 'brother' once again, and it would send him back down this horrible spiral. Sure, his father tried to call him his 'daughter' at the end of the day. A few days ago, that may have been effective. Not so much now.

'I-I don't wanna live like this…'

When he closed his eyes, he imagined himself as he wanted to be: looking almost the same, but with no thing between his legs and a ponytail long enough to reach his shoulders. All staring into the window did was remind him of the reality. He was a boy. And there was nothing he could do to change that.

There was a knock at the door. It cut off his imagination and brought him back into the reality where he was not a girl. He didn't say anything, because he couldn't. Even hearing his voice seemed to stress him out now.

He was so weak…

'Hey, kiddo.'

Senior stepped into the room quietly and carefully, making sure to disturb his child as little as possible. When Junior didn't even turn to look at him, he sat down next to him. Before Senior could say anything, Junior sat up and wrapped his arms around him.

'W-What's wrong with me?' The child asked, his voice weak. 'W-Why am I s-so… weak?'

Senior placed his arm on his child's shoulder. 'Nothing is wrong with you, and you are not weak. I'll never know exactly what you're going through, but I understand why you're so distressed. You can't even look in the mirror and see yourself. That's practically an out-of-body experience! But I think I know what's going on.'

'W-What is it?'

It reminded Senior of a similar discussion he had with Leni, when she was about four-years-old. When he told her that she was autistic, because he believed she had to know about that as soon as possible. Alas, most of the conversation was spent just going around in circles. Hopefully, it would end a lot better this time.

'Let's start with the most important thing,' He said. 'You're not alone, LJ.'

Junior looked up to him with hopeful eyes. 'I-I-I'm not?'

'You're not the first person in the world who felt like this. Many people before you have felt like their body wasn't right. Like it didn't match up with what was in your head and heart. And I think I know what might fix the problem.'

The young child climbed up onto his father's lap and looked him right in the eyes, silently begging for the answer.

'For years, I thought you were my son.' Senior said. 'But I was wrong. We were all wrong. You're not my son. You're my daughter.'

'Y-You mean that I… I really am a girl?' Junior asked.

Senior nodded. And Junior could hardly believe it. Joy swelled within his body, and he was just about to dance around the room when he caught a glance at his reflection. A boy - the same thing he still thought he was - stared back at him. That one look was all it took for his joy to evaporate.

'But… I can't be,' He said. 'L-Look at me! Do I look like a girl to you?'

Senior looked his child over, while the kid was staring up at him with teary eyes. He tried hard, so very hard, to convince himself that the child in front of him looked just like a girl. Unfortunately, he couldn't see Junior as anything else as a boy, as far as appearances were concerned at least. And it made him angry. Why couldn't he see this child as the girl they truly were?

But he let himself off. Not that much, mind you. He still hated that he couldn't convince himself to drop his preconceived notions. It was just that he understood that it made sense; after a few years of believing Junior to be a boy, it would be hard to adjust. But he would sure as hell do it, or die in the attempt.

'I-I don't…' Junior said. 'I don't look like a girl at all!'

Junior fell backwards and buried his head in his knees, about ready to start crying again. Senior immediately picked him up and placed him on the bed, hugging him tightly the entire time.

'Sweetie, I don't care what you look like!' He said, practically yelling. 'As far as I'm aware, if calling you my daughter and treating you like a girl would make you happy… then who cares if I have trouble seeing you as a girl? That's my problem, not yours. You're a girl, LJ. And your appearance isn't going to change that for the world!'

The child looked up at him with big frightened eyes. 'R-Really?'

'I'm convinced that you're actually a girl. There's no denying it now. I may not quite understand this gender stuff, cos it is kinda confusing for an old guy like me, but that doesn't matter. You're a girl, and I'm gonna call you one! No matter what… my awesome daughter.'

Junior looked up at his… her… father, tears still flowing from her eyes. But now, he… she… smiled. She wiped her eyes and nose with the back of her hand, and wrapped her arms around her father as far as they would go.

'I-I like that…' She murmured. 'It sounds… right. Like you're really talking about me.' Her smile drooped. 'B-But, my body-'

'Doesn't matter,' Senior said. 'It isn't important. You're a girl who ended up in the wrong body, I guess. But you're still a girl. Maybe we can do something to fix that. Maybe grow your hair out. That'll make you look more like the girl you really are.'

'That might take a while.'

'I'm willing to wait however long it takes, LJ.' He paused, a bad realisation dawning on him. 'Wait, your name… you were named after me because I mistook you for a boy. Should we change it?'

Junior went quiet, and gave it some serious thought. Well, as much serious thought as a child her age had to give. 'Lynn Jr'… she had known for a while that she had been named after her father. And yet, the name didn't feel wrong. It still felt like it was the name for her.

'Can Lynn be a girl's name?' She asked.

'Absolutely!' Her father replied. 'You got lucky. Your name can be for boys or girls. You wanna keep it?'

The little girl nodded. 'Yep. I like it. It was a boy's name before, but it's a girl's name now!'

'That's a great way to look at it, Sweetie. … You want me to call you 'Sweetie'?'

'Well, it's girly. I don't like it, but it's girly.'

Lynn Sr picked up his daughter - he was already getting used to thinking of her as such - and sat down on her bed. It was a lot more comfortable than the floor at any rate, even if she always kept it dirty.

Suddenly, Junior's eyes widened. 'Wait, what do we tell my sisters?'

'We're gonna have to tell them sooner or later. Unless you want them to keep calling you brother. But we don't have to do it until you're ready.'

'… Should we tell Mommy?'

'Right away.'

Lynn Jr had always been a lot closer to her father than her mother. Seeing as Lincoln was already showing signs of preferring his mother's company, her assumed gender didn't really have much to do with that.

It explained why she was finding it so much harder to come out to Rita than Lynn Sr. She stood in Rita's room, hardly able to look her in the eye, and regretted her insistence on doing this on her own. Of course, Senior was standing just outside the bedroom door, but she didn't know that.

'Y-You see, Mommy…' She said, gulping. 'I'm-'

'Actually a girl?' Rita asked.

Lynn's eyes shot wide open, and she stared at her mother in shock. Rita gave her a soft and gentle smile, exactly like you'd expect a kindly mother to do.

'Wait, y-you know?'

Rita chuckled. 'Well, you haven't exactly been subtle about it. Do you like it more if I call you my daughter?'

'I-I…'

The little girl was speechless. It was all going a little too fast to comprehend. It wasn't even an hour ago that she realised it was okay for her to be a girl instead of a boy, in spite of what her body tried to tell her.

'Well? Would you?'

'Uh… y-yes. Yes!' Lynn said. 'Cos I am your daughter. I'm not your son anymore.'

'You know, I'm not certain if you were ever my son to begin with.'

Rita picked up Lynn and ignored her usual 'no-hugs' protests and squirms. Seeing her youngest daughter try so hard to, well, do anything defiant was a welcoming sight. Like Lynn really was being her true self, for the first time in forever.

'MOOOOOOM!' She whined.

'Well, since I know you're my daughter now,' Rita said, chuckling to herself. 'We have a lot of mother-daughter cuddles to catch up on.'

Lynn didn't stop squirming or whining, much to Rita's delight. The little one was living proof that girls were not easier than boys to raise, and anyone who claimed it was because Lynn was 'born a boy' wasn't worth listening to. Because, as Rita began to realise, Lynn was never 'born a boy'. That would imply that Lynn was ever a boy, which Rita was almost certain she wasn't.

Eventually, and I do mean eventually, Lynn calmed down and finally accepted the hug. She'd never admit it, but the hug felt warm and nice.

'Do you think that's true?' Lynn asked. 'That I was always a girl?'

Rita nodded. 'There's no doubt in my mind. We just couldn't see it until you figured out the words to explain it. It doesn't matter what you look like, or sound like, or even act like. If you tell me that you're a girl, then I'm going to listen.'

Lynn was silent for a moment. '... I don't look like a girl.'

'Alright then. What does a girl look like?'

The little girl opened her mouth to answer, only to find herself short of any sort of answer. She thought about her sisters, and their wildly different appearances. Lori always tried to look pretty, while Leni seemed happy just to be herself as long as she was wearing a fashionable dress. Luna looked a lot 'rougher' than Luan, who liked dressing up much like a clown.

'Um, girls…' Lynn said. 'Have long hair?'

It was the only thing connecting all four of her older sisters. Albeit, Luna didn't seem happy with long hair anyway, and really only Leni had really long hair.

'Long hair, huh?' Rita said. 'Well, that can't be right. I know a lot of girls who have short hair. Your great aunt Ruth-' She paused so Lynn could groan. 'Liked to wear her hair short. A lot of girls I knew growing up did too. And I've met a lot of boys who have long hair. And you're a girl, and you have short hair.'

'I-I guess you're right,' Lynn said. 'But I wanna look more like a girl. I look too much like a boy.'

'Well, how about a skirt? Would you wear a skirt?'

Lynn winced. 'Ew, no! Dresses are prissy. I wanna be a tough girl. Not a prissy girl.'

Rita went silent with thought. Lynn's usual aversion to most things feminine clearly wasn't going away after this 'transition', which didn't really surprise her. It did, however, make it a lot harder to come up with ways to make her 'look more like a girl'. As far as she was aware, Lynn looked enough like a girl already. But it wasn't really her call, was it?

'I wanna wear my hair long,' Lynn said. 'Not too long. Just a little. And-and… I want it in a ponytail! I've seen other girls with ponytails, and I like it.'

'Hair doesn't grow very fast, Lynn.' Rita said. 'It could take a while before it gets longer enough to make a ponytail.'

'I can wait! … I think.'

'Until then, I'll let you know every day that you are not my first son, but one of my daughters.'

Lynn gave her a big hug, sinking her face deep into her mother's body. That horrible icky feeling she got whenever she was called their 'son' had been replaced by the utter euphoria of being called their 'daughter'. It sounded right. It felt right. Like she finally found a term that properly described her.

If only her reflection would match…

Suddenly, the door to the bedroom swung open.

'Sounds like that went great!' Lynn Sr said, stepping into the room.

'Dad?' Junior asked. 'Were you there the whole time?'

'Since the very beginning, Kiddo. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.'

'I must admit,' Rita said. 'I was having doubts about what your father was saying about you. I knew people like you existed, but I never thought it could start so early. I thought your father was… overreacting. But I was wrong. You are a girl.'

Perhaps the point had been reiterated plenty of times, but Rita thought it needed re-re-reiterating. Every time Junior was reminded of her true identity, it made her smile grow even bigger and brighter.

Rita's smile fell. 'Wait… her sisters. Lincoln's so young that he probably won't even realise what's going on, but the other girls are going to notice.'

'Well, I think that falls to LJ,' Senior said. 'We don't tell them unless she wants them to know.'

Junior was silent for a while, so she could think. 'I… I think we should tell them. Let'm know. Or they might keep calling me their brother. But not now. Maybe, uh, tomorrow. Tomorrow sounds good.'

'Alright, that solves that. Do you want us to tell them, or do you wanna do it?'

More silence. 'Uh… I wanna tell them. B-But I want you there, if I don't do it. So you can tell them. But I'll try.'

Senior clapped his hands together. 'Alright! Sounds like one heck of a date. You let me know when you wanna do it, and I'll gather up your sisters so we can let them know. I'm sure they'll love to have another sister in the house.'

Lynn Jr struggled to get to sleep that night. For a lot of reasons.

She thought about coming out to her sisters the next day. That was the painful part. There was simply no way of knowing how they'd react until it happened. She gulped down her nerves as she thought about it. The crushing words. The denial. The insistence that she was still their 'brother', as she had 'always' been.

Leni would probably accept her; there was very little she wouldn't accept, and most of that was just bad fashion choices. Of course, she may have been so confused with the change that she couldn't accept it no matter how hard she tried, continuing to call Lynn her 'brother' simply because she didn't know any better.

She wasn't so sure about her other sisters. Lori was so opinionated and never appreciated things changing on her. Then again, she hated boys. Maybe she'd appreciate having another sister. Luna and Luan seemed content with her being their 'little brother', and she couldn't predict how they'd react to it.

As for Lincoln… well, he was so young. Perhaps he wouldn't even know better. But he was almost two-years-old now, walking well and very capable of voicing his thoughts. Albeit, in a rather simple manner. Despite his young age, he was the one Lynn was the most worried about. Since Lynn was a girl this whole time, then that meant that he would be the only brother among all six of them.

She couldn't imagine that he would be okay with that.

Author Notes - Lynn Jr will be referred to with female pronouns from now on. The only times male pronouns will be used for her again will be dialogue from characters who either don't know she's a girl or refuse to believe so. And maybe bullies who feel like making her feel bad, because people like that really do exist and I do not like them.

Using Lynn Jr to tell this kind of story is actually an interesting move. Her defining characteristic in the show is essentially being the most 'boyish' of the Loud Sisters (with the possible exception of Lana). When it comes to trans women, there's two ways it can end up going down. Either they adopt more traditionally feminine aspects, and they get told that they're just being a caricature of women. Or, they like being more traditionally masculine, in which case people will say they're not trying hard enough. Both are utter bullcrap. Lynn Jr may be the most 'boyish' girl in the neighbourhood, but that doesn't mean that she isn't a girl.